“At that time, we were using the Roland 808,” explained Chancler. “I think part of it was we knew all the guys, and we knew what they could do and how they would do it.” With the help of drum machines. Together, the pair sparkled – and the Dazz Band liked what they heard. Chancler, his “Let It Whip” co-writer, had previously produced George Duke. “A song that was different in that it would be something that no one had ever really talked about on a record.” He added, “What kind of lyric content could we talk about that could end up being a dance? And Reggie came up with the idea of a whip.”Īndrews was known for his work with Patrice Rushen, but in 1980, he was an A&R assistant at Motown. “We wanted to create a song that they could make a dance out of,” said Leon “Ndugu” Chancler in The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits. Record buyers accepted the “invitation” on a modest scale, giving the Dazz Band a couple of minor R&B chart entries before “Let It Whip,” from their third album, blew the doors off. Harris’ combo came to Motown’s attention in 1980, signing up and spending almost six months rehearsing their first album for the company, Invitation To Love, before hitting the 24-track Recording Connection studio in Cleveland to put the results on tape. “But to expand our audience, we started playing Top 40 songs and developed our live set into more of an entertaining show, as opposed to just musicians standing on a stage.” “We’d been playing an intricate jazz/fusion kind of music,” he said of his pre-Dazz days. Bobby Harris, the singer and saxman who led the Dazz Band, continued the tradition, gigging at Leo’s behind Lou Rawls in the 1970s, then forming the first group of musicians through which he gained experience, an audience and, eventually, chart success. SONGWRITERS: Reggie Andrews, Leon “Ndugu” ChanclerīACKSTORY: Leo’s Casino in Cleveland was a music venue with strong links to any number of top Motown artists who performed there during the 1960s. DAY & DATE: Number One on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart in the week ending Saturday, May 29, 1982.
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